• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FHE Health | Inpatient Rehab & Mental Health Facility in Florida Homepage

Drug, Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment

ContactCareers

Call for Immediate Help (833) 596-3502

MENUMENU
  • About
        • About FHE Rehab
          • About FHE Health
          • Our Staff
          • Locations We Serve
          • Testimonials
        • Our Campus
          • Gallery
          • Our Videos
          • The Health and Wellness Center at FHE Health
        • Our Locations
          • Alcohol Rehab
          • Detox Center
          • Drug Rehab
          • Mental Health Center
          • Outpatient Rehab
        • Careers at FHE Health
          • Employment Opportunities
        • Our Expertise
          • Accreditations
          • Educational Opportunities
          • Community Impact Award
          • First Responder Families Podcast
          • First Responder Paws
          • Education Scholarship
  • Addiction
        • Treatment Programs
          • Treatment Program Overview
          • Alcohol Addiction
          • Drug Addiction Treatment
          • Behavioral Addiction
        • Levels of Care
          • Continuum of Care
          • Addiction Detox
          • Inpatient Addiction Treatment
          • Outpatient Addiction Treatment
        • What We Treat
          • Alcoholism
          • Amphetamines
          • Benzodiazepines
          • Cocaine
          • Heroin
          • Opioids
          • Sedative
  • Mental Health
        • Mental Health Rehab
          • Mental Health Rehab
          • Onsite Psychiatric Care
          • Dual Diagnosis
        • Levels of Care
          • Residential Mental Health Care
          • Outpatient Mental Health Care
        • What We Treat
          • ADD & ADHD
          • Anxiety Disorders
          • Bipolar Disorder
          • Depression
          • Eating Disorders
          • Personality Disorders
          • PTSD
          • Schizophrenia
          • Substance Use Disorder
          • Trauma
  • Programs
        • FHE Programs
          • Specialty Program Overview
          • Restore (Mental Health)
          • Empower! (Women's Program)
          • Shatterproof FHE Health(First Responders)
          • Compass Program
        • Support Programs
          • Alumni
          • Family Support
        • Therapies
          • Acupuncture
          • Breathwork Therapy
          • CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
          • DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy)
          • EMDR Therapy
          • Expressive Arts Therapy
          • Individual Therapy
          • Group Therapy
          • Gambling Therapy
          • Massage
        • Medical Care
          • Medical Integration
          • Ketamine Infusion
          • IV Vitamin
          • Fitness & Nutrition
          • Medication-Assisted Treatment
          • Medication Management
        • NeuroRehab Services
          • Neuro Rehabilitation
          • Neurofeedback Training
          • Neurostimulation Therapy
          • EEG Brain Mapping
          • Insomnia Treatment for PTSD
  • Resources
        • FHE Guides
          • Understanding Drug Abuse
          • Signs of Addiction
          • The Disease of Addiction
          • Confronting Addiction
          • Staging an Intervention
          • Rehab Success Rate – Does It Really Work?
          • Withdrawal Timelines
          • Life After Rehab
          • LGBTQ+ Community Resources
          • Veteran Resources
          • FHE Podcasts
          • Remote Resources Toolkit
        • Learning Center
          • Help for You
          • Help For Loved Ones
          • Help For Alcoholism
          • Help With Substance Abuse
          • Behavioral & Mental Health
          • Life in Recovery
          • Rehab Explained
          • Addiction Statistics
          • Our Research Articles
          • View All Articles
        • The Experience Blog
          • Addiction News
          • Alumni
          • Community Events
          • Expert Opinions
          • FHE Commentary
          • FHE News
          • Treatment Legislation
          • View All Articles
  • Admissions
        • Insurance
          • Blue Cross Insurance
          • Beacon Health / Value Options Insurance
          • Cigna Insurance
          • Humana Insurance
          • TRICARE Insurance
        • Admissions
          • Steps to Addiction Help
          • Will Insurance Cover Behavioral Treatment?
          • Self-Pay Rehab
        • FAQ
          • Keeping Your Job in Rehab
          • Example Day in Rehab
        • Contact Admissions
          • Contact Us
          • Secure Payment Form
  • Contact
  •  
Home > Learning > Drug Addiction > Drug Profile: Klonopin

December 17, 2018 By Ian

Drug Profile: Klonopin

Addiction and abuse of Klonopin Clonazepam

It’s understandable that conversations about prescription drugs turn quickly into discussions about highly addictive opioid pain relievers like OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin and other drugs whose usage numbers have skyrocketed in the past decade.

When this occurs, though, we’re overlooking another very dangerous trend that’s been growing, slower than opioid abuse, but still very noticeably: abuse of prescription benzodiazepines or “benzos.”

Xanax abuse and addiction is a more common topic of discussion that gets some coverage, but there’s one member of the benzodiazepine family that is often overlooked: Klonopin.

In this article, we’ll discuss benzos, including what they are and the danger they present, as well as why Klonopin is so popular, addictive and potentially deadly.

What Are Benzos?

Klonopin Drug ProfileBenzodiazepines were first used in the 1960s as a replacement for barbiturates — heavy sedative drugs that were highly addictive. The appeal to use benzos instead was based on the theory that they had the same effect without the addictive qualities. This turned out to be false when benzos were actually prescribed to patients with anxiety and panic disorders, but until opiates started to be widely prescribed, benzos were the “it” drug on the market.

Benzos are sedatives that bind to GABA receptors in the brain, stimulating the release of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that brings on feelings of pleasure in the user. We now know that every substance that causes dopamine release is addictive for that very reason, but at the time, benzos were thought to be harmless compared to their predecessors in the world of therapeutic drugs. Today, we’re fully aware of the danger.

Benzos Are Involved in a Surprising Number of Overdoses

For example, public health officials have reported an increase in overdose cases related to prescription benzos: In 2013, around 30 percent of overdose deaths were the result of abusing benzos. Another study found that in one year, nearly 20 percent of opioid overdose deaths also involved benzodiazepine use.

Prescribing Rates Are Increasing, Too

According to NIDA, between 1996 and 2013, the number of people who filled prescriptions for one or more benzodiazepine medications increased by 67 percent. While not nearly the increase was seen in opioid prescribing, the fact that we’re learning more and more about the dangers of these drugs while watching prescription rates rising year after year is alarming from the standpoint of those in the addiction treatment community.

What Is Klonopin?

The Side effects of clonazepamKlonopin is the brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine commonly prescribed to treat panic disorders, seizures, and anxiety. Interestingly, Klonopin belongs to a category of drugs called “anticonvulsants,” which means that it was developed to tranquilize a user at risk of a seizure. In practice, Klonopin’s main use is as a prescription to treat anxiety.

The drug’s popularity comes from the fact that medical professionals often think of it as Xanax Lite — something to give to patients of all ages when they complain of the symptoms of anxiety.

Why Is It So Dangerous?

Klonopin is dangerous partly due to the way society, especially in the United States, tends to underestimate it. The U.S. Code puts Klonopin, along with other benzos, in Schedule IV of the code that stratifies drugs by the danger to society. Language in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) says that Schedule IV substances are subject to “a relatively low risk” of the user becoming addicted. Schedule IV is actually the second-lowest category of risk. The problem with this, as we know, is that benzos like Klonopin are much more dangerous than their location on the CSA Schedule would suggest.

Secondly, as mentioned, it’s easy to get a prescription for it, since many primary care physicians and mental health specialists see Klonopin as a precursor to Valium and Xanax. If a patient complains of the symptoms of anxiety, Klonopin can be prescribed almost as a knee-jerk, and with regulatory focus on opioid prescribing habits, other dangerous drugs can be overlooked by the people in charge of making policy governing public health matters.

This is especially significant when we consider the rise in anxiety cases in the U.S. in recent years, especially among children and teens. Medical News Today reports that estimates of Americans with generalized anxiety disorder is about 3 percent of the total population.

Examples of the Dangers of Klonopin

How long will klonopin be detectable?The most notable and public examples of Klonopin addiction and how it affects human lives occur in the most public space: celebrity life and pop culture.

Some of the highest profile celebrity deaths of the last few decades, a list that includes Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse and more have been spurred by abuse of anti-anxiety medications like Klonopin, in tandem with another drug or addictive substance, according to The Star.

Legendary Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks hasn’t been shy about her struggles with benzos, especially Klonopin, even going so far as to open up in a self-authored piece in Newsweek in 2011. Nicks says that she was given Klonopin to help wean her off cocaine, and she didn’t even realize she was becoming addicted: “What started happening was that if I didn’t take it, my hands started to shake. I felt like I had a neurological disease or Parkinson’s.”

This is one of the factors that makes Klonopin different, and arguably more dangerous, than Valium or Xanax: While the other two produce a very noticeable high, addiction to Klonopin can take hold before the user really realizes that it’s happening. Once the user is addicted to Klonopin, it’s as destructive as many other drugs.

What We Can Do About It

Raising awareness about the increase in benzo abuse is the first step towards raising awareness about the dangers of Klonopin addiction. When people don’t realize that, for example, these drugs are more dangerous than their place on the CSA schedule suggests or that benzos are leading to overdose deaths either by themselves or in combination with other substances at only a slightly lower rate than the opioids everyone is highly aware of, the medical community and the treatment community can collaborate to give this growing public health crisis the attention it deserves.

If you or a loved one is misusing Klonopin, you may be at risk to form a potentially dangerous addiction. For help, contact FHE Health today.

Filed Under: Drug Addiction

About Ian

Ian is a copywriter at FHE Health, contributing blog and learning center content.

Primary Sidebar

Learning Center

  • Help for You
  • Help For Loved Ones
  • Help For Alcoholism
  • Help With Substance Abuse
  • Behavioral & Mental Health
  • Life in Recovery
  • Rehab Explained
  • All Articles

Sign up for the Blog

Our Facilities

Take a look at our state of the art treatment center.

View Our Gallery

The Experience Blog

  • Addiction News
  • Alumni
  • Community Events
  • Expert Columns
  • FHE Commentary
  • FHE News
  • Treatment Legislation
  • All Articles

Footer

FHE Health

© 2025 FHE Health

505 S Federal Hwy #2,
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441
1-833-596-3502
youtube facebook instagram linkedin twitter
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • AI Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
A+ BBB and Top Places to Work - Sun Sentinel

Copyright © 2025 · FHE Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. If one of our articles is marked with a ‘reviewed for accuracy and expertise’ badge, it indicates that one or more members of our team of doctors and clinicians have reviewed the article further to ensure accuracy. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care.

If there are any concerns about content we have published, please reach out to us at marketing@fhehealth.com.

833-596-3502

Text/Call Me